Chapter 95
Chapter 95
Yun Lie himself jumped in fright and hurriedly looked up.
The relaxed eyes of the white-robed immortal-sect disciples lit up at the same instant!
Across the entire formation, the previously transparent barrier suddenly became visible. Only then did the mortals below discover that the whole martial platform was enclosed beneath a vast dome of light shaped like an inverted bowl.
Now, because Yun Lie had entered, the transparent barrier turned a blazing red.
Raging flames ignited from thin air across its surface.
Yun Lie, standing within, felt no heat. Instead, the surrounding sea of fire gave him an intense sense of kinship.
The flames were not real. An immortal-sect disciple on the platform stared wide-eyed. “Is this… a supreme-grade fire spiritual root?”
Shock gave way to wild delight.
He had been selected to help recruit new disciples this time. If he brought back a disciple with excellent talent, a reward was inevitable.
And if he took advantage of his position, befriended this prospective junior brother during their journey to the Eastern Continent, and recruited him into his own sect…
The mere thought made his breathing quicken.
What enormous benefits!
Then a companion beside him said, “Wait! It seems to be more than a single fire spiritual root!”
He looked up in confusion and discovered another change inside the barrier.
The scorching flames had not gone out. They burned brighter and brighter, and at their most intense, a thread of deep violet emerged from their heart!
“That is… a mutated spiritual root!”
The instant fire erupted inside the barrier, the mortals below had screamed and retreated like a receding tide.
They soon discovered that the fire remained entirely within the barrier without spilling out at all, and that it radiated not the slightest oppressive heat. Only then did they recover.
Inevitably, discussions began.
“Wh-what is that?”
“Could that boy have burned to death inside?”
“There are immortals present. How could they let someone burn to death?”
“How ignorant! That blaze is not real fire, but a vision! I heard the grander the vision, the more incredible the talent. It means that boy possesses tremendous immortal fortune and opportunity!”
The spectacle was astonishing, but lasted only a few breaths.
The flames soon vanished. The people below saw the boy standing there unharmed and the immortals in their original positions. The martial platform had not suffered the slightest damage.
An immortal called out with an eager smile, “Supreme-grade mutated fire spiritual root!”
An immortal in white approached Yun Lie and said warmly, “Junior Brother, please come with me to the waiting area.”
A clever person had already begun calling him Junior Brother.
Yun Lie looked somewhat dazed but even more excited.
He called out, “Immortal, my junior sister is behind me. She is supposed to be tested next.”
The immortal-sect disciple frowned upon hearing “junior sister,” but soon relaxed. They were probably only disciples accepted by an ordinary mortal martial teacher.
Because of Yun Lie’s talent, everyone now watched his “junior sister” with tremendous interest and anticipation.
Yun Xi walked lightly onto the platform.
She was no fool. From the enormous commotion her senior brother had caused and the immortals’ reactions, she naturally guessed that his talent must be exceptional.
The girl had competed with her senior brother over everything since childhood. Now her thoughts were consumed by one conviction: I absolutely cannot be worse than Senior Brother. How could she remain nervous?
Under everyone’s expectant gaze, she stepped onto the platform.
As expected, the barrier that had only just settled began trembling again the instant she entered the formation.
Yun Lie stood to one side, seemingly calm but secretly holding his breath. Upon seeing the reaction, he quietly exhaled.
When Yun Lie entered, scorching flames had immediately surged across the sky and ground.
When Yun Xi entered, the barrier trembled, yet no vision appeared at first.
Then everyone heard a succession of clear humming notes.
They began faintly, but gradually swelled louder.
At last, everyone discovered their source.
Throughout Nandu–among the ordinary martial artists and swordsmen watching below, the city guards maintaining order, and even the immortals upon the platform–
every person carrying a sword felt their weapon answer an unseen summons, struggling out of control to leave its scabbard.
The immortal-sect disciple standing beside Yun Lie was himself a sword cultivator.
He firmly restrained his spirit sword with one hand, his gaze fixed upon the girl on the platform who still had no idea what was happening.
“When sword bones manifest, all swords answer.”
“Innate sword bones. She has innate sword bones!”
His voice nearly cracked with excitement on the second sentence.
Heavens above!
Was Nandu not known as an abandoned land?
How had it produced both a supreme-grade mutated fire spiritual root and innate sword bones?
It made cultivators from the Eastern Continent rather embarrassed to boast that they lived in blessed lands!
Clang!
Something finally appeared within the previously empty formation. Invisible sword energy crisscrossed and converged into the phantom of a gigantic sword that towered toward the heavens.
Its sharp aura made every onlooker feel as though their brows and eyes were being cut merely by looking at it.
Clang!
Another clear sword cry rang out.
This time, every sword that its owner had firmly restrained unsheathed itself and pointed tremblingly toward the girl.
The next instant, the enormous sword scattered and the sword energy dissipated.
The unruly weapons immediately settled down and returned to their respective scabbards.
Yun Xi blinked, looked back at the stunned crowd below, then turned toward the white-robed cultivator nearby.
“Immortal.” Her eyes shone. “Is my talent acceptable?”
Of course she was asking deliberately!
She was not stupid. After a disturbance like that, how could her talent possibly be poor?
She simply wanted to hear confirmation and praise!
The immortal-sect disciple recovered from his daze, a flush of excitement now visible on his face. “Innate sword bones! Supreme-grade foundations and a sacred sword-cultivator physique.”
He smiled kindly at Yun Xi. “Junior Sister, please go over there and wait with…”
He remembered that the earlier boy seemed to belong to the same household and had called her his junior sister.
“Wait with your senior brother.”
Then he could not resist asking, “Do you have any other fellow disciples?”
They might as well test everyone together. What if several more single spiritual roots suddenly appeared?
Yun Xi did not like that question.
“No! Master accepted only the two of us!”
She waved toward the teahouse almost jubilantly, then skipped over to Yun Lie.
The teahouse was in an uproar as well. Plenty of people had possessed Zhu Yin’s foresight and reserved good seats to watch the excitement.
When they saw the girl with the astonishing talent wave in their direction, the teahouse instantly grew noisy.
“Did you see that? Heavens, every longsword answered her!”
“What do innate sword bones mean?”
“I do not know, but it must be an incredible talent. Did you not see how politely even the immortals treated her?”
Zhu Yin listened with a smile, then suddenly coughed softly.
Strangely, her voice was not loud, but everyone on the teahouse’s second floor heard it.
Not only did they hear her, but their attention was inexplicably drawn toward her.
Zhu Yin gave a reserved smile and said carelessly, “That girl just now is my disciple.”
Then she chuckled. “The boy with the fire spiritual root is my disciple as well.”
Boom!
Like a drop of water splashing into hot oil, the atmosphere instantly boiled over.
Praise of every kind began pouring upon Zhu Yin without pause.
As Zhu Yin listened with a smile, she thought: normally, crowds always feel too noisy. Today, however, there seem to be far too few people on this second floor.